Chencho Dema

The Punakha police have apprehended a 46-year-old man following accusations of sexually assaulting his 15-year-old stepdaughter.

The claim came about after the suspect’s wife made a complaint. This all happened on February 26 when the suspect argued with his 41-year-old wife from Trashiyangtse. Following this argument, the situation was reported to the Paro police.

The suspect, a former police constable, is also the father of a child with the victim, and the child is one and a half years old.

When the sexual assault and molestation began a few years back, the victim lived in Punakha with her mother and stepfather.

However, since the crime happened in Punakha, the case was transferred to the Punakha police on February 27, which led to the detention of the suspect. The suspect lived in Paro town with his wife and the daughter.

The suspect is from Sewla village in Chubu Gewog, Punakha.

Kuensel recently discovered that the wife was aware of the incident the whole time but chose not to report it to the relevant authorities.

It was further revealed that the suspect had registered the victim as his daughter in the census. However, it has come to light that their child is not listed in the census records.

The victim is presently residing with the suspect’s sister in Thimphu and is unemployed. Additionally, the suspect has two children with the mother of the victim, both of whom also live with his sister.

The mother resides in Paro and is employed as one of the weavers for a handicraft shop.

The victim’s mother was released on bail by the police after being charged with failure to report the crime to the authorities.